Note from the Rector: Touchstones for the Journey

This past weekend, Redeemerites on retreat spent Saturday morning identifying Redeemer's "Touchstone Story" for the coming season. We looked for a story that would nourish and guide us as we imagine our future during the Visioning Phase of our strategic planning and then discern steps toward our Vision during the Planning Phase.

After very thoughtful conversation, we identified the Story of Loaves and Fishes as our Touchstone Story.

In this story, the disciples look at a crowd of 5,000 people who have gathered to hear Jesus teach and preach, and they worry about how to feed that many people with the five loaves of bread and two fishes they have on hand. But Jesus is able to feed all 5,000 who have gathered, and there are twelve baskets of food remaining after all have had their fill.

This is a wonderful story for us to spend time with in the coming months. It is a story of plenty, of generosity and trust, of the miraculous and mystical ways in which we are fed through encounters with Jesus. We will study, discuss, and pray with the various versions of it we find in the Bible (Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:34-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-14); and we might even have a chance to share the fabulous interpretation of it that our youth offered during the Retreat Eucharist on Sunday!

Once we identified our story, we created literal touchstones to remind us of the story as we vision and plan. As we read the story several times, folks painted words and images on stones that reflected the story's meaning.

We blessed these stones at the Retreat Eucharist and brought them back to Redeemer for the whole community to have as touchstones.

There are baskets of touchstones at each entrance to the sanctuary and in the nave. If you weren't at the retreat, please pick up a touchstone when you are next at church. If you won't be at church in person, please let me or Ellen know, and we will be in touch about delivering a touchstone to you.

Most importantly, spend some time with this story. Join our conversations in the coming months about who Jesus is calling us to be, and let Jesus feed you through The Word as we discern our path forward together.

In Christ's abundant love,

Megan+

Touchstones painted by Redeemerites on Retreat.